Barclays to refile U.S. statements this month, resume buyback By Reuters

LONDON (Reuters) -Barclays said it expects to refile financial statements with U.S. regulators by the end of May, paving the way to resume a 1 billion pound ($1.23 billion) buyback programme it halted following a trading blunder earlier this year.

The bank disclosed earlier this year that it had to refile an accounting statement known as a form 20-F with the Securities and Exchange Commission, after it issued more structured notes than it was permitted in the United States.

The lender said refiling would allow it to resume the share buyback ‘shortly therafter’, sticking to its pledge to do so within the second quarter of the year.

The bank said on March 28 it had oversold billions of pounds worth of the securities over a period of about a year, overshooting a $20.8 billion limit agreed with United States regulators by $15.2 billion.

In addition to putting a temporary halt on the buyback, the blunder has so far cost the bank $320 million in provisions against likely fines and posed an early setback for new Chief Executive C.S. Venkatakrishnan.

Venkatakrishnan, who is known inside the bank as Venkat, told reporters last month that Barclays (LON:) had found no evidence to date of deliberate misconduct relating to the error and that the bank was working with all its regulators.

($1 = 0.8154 pounds)